The head of Poland’s public broadcaster, Jacek Kurski, has warned that a plan is being implemented with external support to overthrow the Polish government.
Kurski made the remarks on Saturday during an interview broadcast on TVP, the state television station that he runs. The broadcaster has become a mouthpiece for the government, which Kurski was a member of before being appointed to his current role in 2016.
“We have a kind of external intervention against Poland,” warned Kurski. “A plan to overthrow the government of ‘good change’ is being implemented,” he added, referring to a government slogan to describe its policies.
🗨️Jest plan obalenia rządu „Dobrej Zmiany”. On jest rozpisany, realizowany. Przykre, że uczestniczy w tym coś w rodzaju piątej kolumny w Polsce – powiedział prezes TVP Jacek Kurski#wieszwięcej @KurskiPL pic.twitter.com/vDPtQl0j49
— tvp.info 🇵🇱 (@tvp_info) January 1, 2022
Part of the plot against Poland has been the “unlawful blocking of European funds” for the country, said the head of TVP. The European Commission has so far refused to release tens of billions of euros in Covid recovery funds until Warsaw address concerns over the rule of law.
Kurski also identified rising energy prices due to the EU’s climate package and Vladimir Putin’s manipulation of gas prices as elements of the plan, as well as the ongoing “attacks on the eastern border“.
What makes this situation even more dangerous, he warned, is the “participation of a fifth column” within Poland itself. This includes “media who clearly work in support of these processes of destroying the Polish state and find any opportunity to attack TVP”.
This, explained Kurski, is because TVP is the “largest medium that is able to defend the narrative of Polish independence, the Polish national interest”. Undermining TVP therefore makes it easier to overthrow the government, he added.
Under Kurski’s leadership since 2016, TVP has become a mouthpiece for the ruling national-conservative coalition. Its broadcasts, including news segments, are used to promote the government’s narrative and attack its opponents.
While public broadcasters in Poland have always been under the influence of whichever parties are in power, a number of media watchdogs and commentators have noted that the current politicisation of state TV is unprecedented in the post-communist era.
The government and its supporters, however, argue that changes at public broadcasters are part of a necessary rebalancing of Poland’s media landscape, which they claim was previously dominated by opposition-supporting outlets, some of which have foreign ownership.
Main image credit: Roman Rogalski / Agencja Gazeta
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
